newportFILM, the Newport Jazz Festival, and the Newport Restoration Foundation will present the world premiere of John Shearer: American Moments on Thursday, July 30, at Rough Point, the historic Newport estate of philanthropist Doris Duke.
The evening will also feature a live performance by the Alison Shearer Quartet, led by saxophonist Alison Shearer — daughter of the film’s subject.
Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker James Spione, the documentary follows John Shearer, a groundbreaking Black photographer who documented some of the defining events of the 20th century as a staff photographer for Look and later Life magazine. His work captured the funerals of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Attica uprising, Muhammad Ali, and the social and political upheaval of the 1960s and 70s.
The evening is curated by Nate Smith, artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival.
Doors open at 5 p.m., when attendees can tour an exhibition of Shearer’s prints on the Rough Point lawn. The program begins at 8 p.m. with introductions by newportFILM and Smith, followed by a performance by the Alison Shearer Quartet at 8:10 p.m. and the film at 8:40 p.m. A post-film conversation with Alison Shearer, Spione, and Smith will follow.
For tickets and more information, visit newportfilm.com/films/john-shearer-american-moments.
